A few days later:

Elizabeth sits on her bed, reading her copy of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire.’ She stares at the pages, unable to concentrate. Glancing at the clock, she realizes she has exactly 26 hours until she faces Mr. Murty again. I can’t even concentrate, she thinks, gloomily.

Her mind wonders to a few nights past, when she and Lucky admitted their true feelings. Her face clouds over as she remembers the look on Lucky’s face as she pulled away from him. The hurt, the sadness…. This is all Murty’s fault!, she thinks angrily. He raped me, and I will never be the same because of it.

Liz bounds of her bed, heading for the phone. I’ve got to end this once and for all. I’ve got to get Murty or Lucky and I will never be happy. I’ll never be happy.

She picks up the phone and dials. "Hi, it’s Elizabeth… I’m okay, you?…. That’s good. Listen, I need to see you. It’s important… No, I’ll be alone. I don’t want anyone to know about this. Could we meet in the park, by the fountain?…. Yes, that’s the place. Will you be there? …. Okay. I’ll see you in half an hour. Bye." Elizabeth places the receiver on the cradle.

She grabs her keys off her desk, and heads out.

* * *

"I’m surprised that you asked me to me you, let alone here," a voice calls.

Elizabeth turns. "Thanks for coming, Nikolas."

Nikolas nods. "You sounded urgent on the telephone. Has something happened?"

Elizabeth shakes her head. "Not really… it’s just so complicated," she sighs.

Nik takes a seat on the stone bench. Elizabeth remains standing, facing him. "Would you like to tell me about it? Is that why you phoned me?"

"It happened here, you know," she says softly. "Valentine’s Day."

Nikolas looks away quickly, before returning his eyes to her face. "I’m sorry."

Elizabeth nods. "So am I… it was pretty dumb of me. I just stopped off here to finish off my popcorn. I was sitting on that very bench…" Her voice trails off, as she flashes back to that night.

Nikolas notices the distant look on her face. "Elizabeth?"

She shakes it off. "It’s hard… being here, in the place that he raped me. I can almost feel him—"

"Would you like to go someplace else? Kelly’s, or back to Wyndemere? We don’t have to stay here."

"Yes, we do," Elizabeth says strongly. "This is the place where I lost a piece of myself, and this is the place where I’m going to figure out how to get it back. With your help, if you’re willing."

Nikolas watches Elizabeth closely. "Wouldn’t you rather have Lucky’s help?"

"I love Lucky," she states, "and he’s helped me a lot. I never would have survived this without him or his Aunt Bobbie. Lucky found me in those bushes over there," she says, pointing, "and he helped to make me whole again. But part of me will never feel safe again until the guy who raped me is in jail."

"What does any of this have to do with me?," Nikolas asks, confused.

"You’re a Cassadine. You have things at your disposal that Lucky and I don’t. I know that you and I aren’t close, I mean, with all this Lucky and Sarah stuff, but you know what happened, and you promised that you wouldn’t say anything."

"I haven’t, and I won’t," Nik replies.

Elizabeth smiles. "Thank you. What I’m asking for is your help. Tomorrow night, I’m going to get the guy who raped me. I need your help to do it."

Nik does a double take. "Wait a minute—are you saying that you know the identity of your attacker?" Elizabeth nods. "Who is it?"

Elizabeth stares at him momentarily before replying. "Mr. Murty."

To be continued...